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The Swarm: Brave it Backwards

rob666 said:
But you do.
Any relevance to the Swarm, Brave it Backwards?
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I'd say yes, as it may have contributed towards the decision to remove Brave it Backwards in 2016.

Granted: Brave it Backwards may have been removed at some stage anyway, but the fact that it was specifically removed in 2016 rather than 2017 or later may have have been due to the larger operational, safety, and staff cutbacks that were made across Merlin around that time period.

Rob said:
Plus the near misses were far less effective when going backwards!
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Maybe it's just me, but 'near misses' and head chopper elements never had much effect on me - especially after the initial ride - as I know that the ride has already been engineered to be safe enough, and thus I never really feel like I'm in any danger!

Funnily enough: on the subject of Brave it Backwards, the only time that a near miss actually felt somewhat dangerous is actually when I ended up facing backwards on Enso at Blackpool, as I remember instinctively pulling my legs in as the ride passed under Steeplechase while I was facing backwards / sideways as I couldn't see ahead and wasn't certain that I'd clear it !

owenstreet7 said:
I was thinking it seemed like X No Way Out, Indiana Jones and The Jester (Six Flags New Orleans) were all clearly designed to go forwards but went backwards instead.
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I hadn't considered that; is there a specific layout or feature that is unique to a backwards-facing ride? I haven't ridden enough of them to know!
 
Rob said:
I'm never really a fan of parks running coasters that were designed to go forwards backwards, or going backwards full stop
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Same. Especially if wearing lapbars, it’s inherently uncomfortable having forces push you forward without support. I remember Thunder Looper almost snapping me in two when i attempted arms up.

Mandril works because the vests provide support and the ride itself is smooth so i assume Swarm wouldn’t have been uncomfortable in that regard.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
Butter wings. Edited and corrected. Thanks for pointing it out!
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It could be even shorter now considering Chessington and Minecraft. Like about 18 months to two years 🤔

It seems to be nearly certain it's an Intamin Multi Dimension coaster although there is a slim chance it may be an ART Engineering coaster like Galacticoaster.
 
Secret Weapon said:
I'd say yes, as it may have contributed towards the decision to remove Brave it Backwards in 2016.

Granted: Brave it Backwards may have been removed at some stage anyway, but the fact that it was specifically removed in 2016 rather than 2017 or later may have have been due to the larger operational, safety, and staff cutbacks that were made across Merlin around that time period.


Maybe it's just me, but 'near misses' and head chopper elements never had much effect on me - especially after the initial ride - as I know that the ride has already been engineered to be safe enough, and thus I never really feel like I'm in any danger!

Funnily enough: on the subject of Brave it Backwards, the only time that a near miss actually felt somewhat dangerous is actually when I ended up facing backwards on Enso at Blackpool, as I remember instinctively pulling my legs in as the ride passed under Steeplechase while I was facing backwards / sideways as I couldn't see ahead and wasn't certain that I'd clear it !


I hadn't considered that; is there a specific layout or feature that is unique to a backwards-facing ride? I haven't ridden enough of them to know!
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I must confess, I was starting to worry we might actually start a fresh page of discussion without you attributing a routine park maintenance decision to the 2015 incident. Perhaps we need to introduce "Secret Weapon's Law" to the list of inevitable forum adages.

If we're to truly embrace the Secret Weapon True Crime Cinematic Universe®, I feel your analysis of the 2016 seat rotation doesn't go quite far enough. Why stop at generic corporate cutbacks and safety concerns when we can find a much more gruesome, historically infamous parallel?

Surely, the removal of Brave it Backwards is the operational equivalent of the Kray Twins dealing with Jack "The Hat" McVitie?

Think about it. The backward seats were the rogue element... messy, unpredictable and causing a massive headache for the ruling establishment (the station batcher). They were slowing down the entire operation and regularly leaving unsavoury physical evidence (protein spills) all over the floor. Merlin, acting with the ruthless efficiency of Ronnie Kray, realised the situation was untenable. Under the cover of the closed season, they dragged the rogue seats into the maintenance shed, "sorted them out", and turned them back around to ensure everyone kept their mouths shut and looked straight ahead. It's a cover up of East End proportions! Back in the cold, unromantic reality of the real world, however...

It was just a marketing gimmick which had reached the end of its natural lifespan. It wasn't very good and it was a pain for operations.

It really is that simple.
 
Drayton Manor allowed people to ride Shockwave backwards (see links below), but I suppose the difference in this case is that it didn't require any special adjustments to the seats and so any seat could essentially be used as a backwards seat!

(These images remind me of Tom Green's "Backwards Man")

It's a good job that Shockwave used a smooth B&M style track, because this could have been very painful on a mid-90s Vekoma...


 
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